WEIGHING nearly 4 kilograms, the first portable digital camera was built in 1975 and offered photographers the ability to capture black-and-white images with a resolution of .01 megapixels. Today, technological advancements have made it possible for people to carry much smaller, lighter, and significantly higher resolution cameras in their pockets (a standard smartphone camera is 8 megapixels). Such a remarkable jump in capability is what scientists at Livermore are aiming to achieve for x-ray imaging.
In a research project spearheaded by Livermore astrophysicist Julia Vogel, Livermore scientists in collaboration with the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), and Sandia National Laboratories have designed, built, and characterized an optical instrument intended specifically for imaging pulsed-power x-ray sources. Known as a Wolter x-ray microscope, the optic significantly improves image resolution and throughput compared to conventional imaging systems. The new instrument has been fitted to Sandia’s Z machine—the world’s strongest pulsed-power facility—to help researchers gain a better understanding of the x-ray sources under observation during high-energy-density experiments.